September 30, 2014

Some time ago I "stumbled over this recipe on tomato rhubarb jam, which I found to be a very interesting combination for a jam. Yes, everyone knows rhubarb jam or the classic combination of strawberry and rhubarb, but a combination of tomato and rhubarb !!!! This combination facinated me enormousely. So I had to make this jam. Luckily enough my good girl friend in Horsens was able to help me out supplying both the tomatoes and rhubarbs for this jam from her kitchen garden.

I more or less made this jam according to the oirginal recipe adjusting the volumes of rhubarb and tomatoes to what I received from the kitchen garden in Horsens. And on top of this I added in pectin for texture adjustment.

I noticed that, when the jam was being more acidic in the taste, the taste of rhubarb was more dominating, while a more sweet taste was bringing the taste of tomato more into the jam. So you can use the sweetness level to adjust the final flavour profile of the jam, should it be rhubarb alone or a combination of rhubarb and tomato ?

Tomato rhubarb jam:

300 g rhubarb - in thinner slices

300 g tomato - in squares

½ vanilla pod - both corns and pod

2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

220 g sugar

8 g pectin

Put tomato and rhubarb pieces together with vinegar and vanilla into a small cooking pot.

Heat up the ingredients to 80'C.

Dry-mix pectin and 50 g of sugar. Add this dry-mix slowly to the jam stirring very well to avoid lump formation.

Let the jam cook slowly for another 5 minutes. Stir on a regular basis.

Add in the rest of the sugar.

Bring the jam to the boiling point and let it boil for 2 minutes.

Taste the jam. If you find it too be to sweet/matured in taste, you can add some more vinegar to bring freshness back to the jam. I normally do this in smaller steps, so I can fine tune the flavour profile to my preference. It is more easy to add some extra, than to remove an overdose of something.

Prepare the jam glasses by filling them with boiling water. I do not use any preservatives in my home-made jam, so this is important to increase shelf-life of your jam. Another thing you can do is to store the jam cold afterwards.

September 28, 2014

As described earlier I amin the process of getting a new kitchen, whereIbesides from a new kitchenandnew appliancesalso will have installed a floor of tilesin the kitchen.The existingtile floor moved in together with the kitchen, whenmy endrowvillawasbuilt back in 1991, meaning they are now23 years old,soit's probablyabout time that both parties "move awayfrom home".Further, the top glazing from the tile is easily removed, if anything fallson the kitchen floor, whereby showing off some very visibleblack spotsfromthe baseof the tile.Soby nowI haveaspotted white tile floor.

I have been looking at various tiles at different placesinVejle, wheremy originaldesire tomaintain the currentwhitetile on the20cmx 20cmis very unusual!!! The tiles of today are mainly 30 cmx30 cmor evenlarger (60cmx60cm)inthosedull colors:black,gray andbeige,butnotwhite!!!! Therefore I have given up on my dream of gettinga whitetile floor.

After yet a visit to kitchencompany, I
saw aflooringstore rightnext door,so Iwentinside tolook around.AndhereI metmy futuretile!!!It has same colour from top to bottom in light graywith a marbledpattern in a size 30 cmx30 cm. This color will fit perfectl withthenew granitecountertopin light colour.

Instead ofgettingthe tileslaiddiagonally, they will laided in right direction witha less visiblegrouting. So I
expect that a more even floor will makethe kitchenappear largerthan the 7m2.With the coming oftilecolorandpattern,I also assumethatHannibal the Cat'sdailypaw printsback and forthfromthe food bowlwill beless visiblethan they arenow at theall-whitetile floor.

The mason was around this week to look at the floor. It isnotpossibleto putthe newtileson top ofthe existingtile floor,
as there areseveral
loosetiles so that
theoldtiles need to bepeeled off.Sothat'sthesituation,I am fine with it.

September 26, 2014

From my last shopping expedition to Flensburg I brought various teas from Teehaus Flensburg incl. this summer tea. Now the time has come for me to enjoy this German version of liquorice tea. The tea is a black tea with liquorice roots, liquorice powder and flavour.

The interesting question is now, if the taste of liquorice is strong enough for the people of Scandinavia, which will have certain requirements as to the strength of the liquorice taste. I can confirm, that the tea is tasting of liquorice, perhaps I as liquorice addict could do with a little more liquorice taste, as you will have in Danish produced tea blends.

September 25, 2014

The weather is changing from being full of sunshine and blue sky to much more typical Autumn style with lower temperature, grey sky and rainy days. Therefore I decided to use up all my outdoor tomatoes in one go by making home-made tomato sauce for the very first ever. For me it is also a way of saving a wonderful Summer for later use in my little kitchen, when the rainy and grey days start knocking on the front door !!!

Being a lazy cook I did not see the need for removing the skin from the tomatoes, before turning them into tomato sauce, as everything is being blended together at the end. The skin of the tomatoes also equals fibre, so it is a more healthy sauce - perhaps !!!

Home-made tomato sauce: - 4 portions

2 stalks of celery - medium chopped

1 carrot - medium chopped

1 onion - medium chopped

4 cloves ofgarlic - medium chopped

1000gripe tomatoes - medium chopped

1 pot of freshparsley - chopped

3 tablespoonsolive oil

3 chilies - de-seeded and finely chopped

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of honey

2 tablespoons of brown sugar - optional

salt and pepper for seasoning

Place the tomatoesin a large cooking pot together with celery,carrot,onion,garlic,parsley, vinegar, honey and olive oil.Bring the potto a quietsimmerand let it simmer gently with the lid on the cooking pot. Let it simmer for one hour, while you from time to time give everything a stir.

After one hour blend everything together.

Season with salt and pepper.

To boost the sweetness of the tomatoes I added into some brown sugar as well.

Pour the tomato sauce into smaller containers, which is cooled down, before they are placed in the freezer for later use.

September 21, 2014

I have found these porcelainhandles for my future kitchen from Anne Black. Therefor Iboughtthissmall selection of handles,which I had with me for a meeting at kitchen company, where I was presented for a kitchensuggestions. So I could be confirmed at once if, these handles could be applied instead ofthe usual"standard" handle from the kitchencompany.

It was a reallygood rowing friend of mine, which provided me with the excellent idea of finding "my"
own handles instead of"just"picking something standard fromthekitchencompany.So a huge thank you to her forthis great idea:-) By doing this I am able to put myown signature onmy futurekitchen.

Andyes,the big handle of 4.5cmin diametercaneasily be usedto both cupboards and drawers.Andthekitchencompany is able to place these handles in connection with putting up the new kitchen :-)I have decidedto buy thegreenhandle withglossy surface to the right side of the photoin big size of 4.5 cm.These handles were ordered(withvolume discounts)ata dealerherein Vejle yesterday.

Thisis the second step been organised in connectionwithmy kitchenproject.The first step wasof courseto ensure the money at the bank.

September 20, 2014

My good friends and colleagues, who knows me and my fascination for creating eatable things in my little kitchen, are all very good at grabbing hold of me offering me surplus fruit and vegetables from their gardens.
This time I got a sms from a rowing friend saying " are you interested in plums ? as I have plenty on my tree" - "yes, I will come by your place after work" was my reply. So I came back to my kitchen with both plums and a recipe for how to make baked plums :-) Back in my comfort zone of my kitchen I decided to twist the recipe by adding in various spices to twist the taste.

Using smaller glasses for storage means a better shelf-life, as you take 1-2 smaller glasses for later use instead of opening and closing a bigger storage glass on several occasion with the risk of growth of yeast and mould. Using smaller storage glasses also means, that you should a few of these glasses as hostess presents during the festive season.

Baked plums a la Yrsa:

2500 plums with stones instead - washed

1000 g sugar

8 allspice - mashed

8 cloves

2 cinnamon sticks - mashed

4 star anise

1 dl rum

Heat the (conventional) oven to 150'C.

Prick the plums with a fork.

Place plums, sugar and spices in a large baking tray. Cover the tray with silver foil.

Bake the plums at 150'C for 1½-2 hours.

Prepare the storage glasses by filling them with boiling water for 4-5 minutes.

As usual I use addition of vinegar at the very end for taste modification, as I find vinegar to bring the fruitness into jam. Do the addition little by little, so you do not overdo it.

Blackberry jam with liquorice:

1200 g blackberries

600 g jam sugar

1 teaspoon of raw liquorice

2 tablespoons of sweet liquorice syrup

1 organic lemon - zest and lemon juice

18 g pectin

½ teaspoon vinegar

Heat up the blackcurrant, lemon juice and zest in a cooking pot.

Heat the fruit up to 80'C. Mix the pectin/gelling powder together with 50 g sugar. Add this dry-mix slowly to the blackberries, while you stir very well in the cooking pot to avoid lump formation.

Let the blackberries cook slowly for another 5 minutes. Stir on a regular basis.

Add in the rest of the sugar together with liquorice powder and sweet liquorice syrup.

Bring the jam to the boiling point and let it boil for 2 minutes.

Taste the jam. If you find it too be to sweet/matured in taste, you can add some more vinegar to bring freshness back to the jam. I normally do this in smaller steps, so I can fine tune the flavour profile to my preference. It is more easy to add some extra, than to remove an overdose of something.

Prepare the jam glasses by filling them with boiling water. I do not use any preservatives in my home-made jam, so this is important to increase shelf-life of your jam. Another thing you can do is to store the jam cold afterwards.

As mywork colleaguesheard that Iwill havehobs withinduction, I was told thatIprobably would have to replace allmypotsandpans!!!! Quiet many of mycolleagues had experienced this.I saw, that I had to let go off myLeCruesetpots!!!!I almost wentinto shock-I lovemyLeCruesetpots. Before panic took over, I managed to understand as much, thatthe inductionrequires thatthe potsare magnetic.

Next step wasto finda magnet!!!!But whoruns around witha magnetintheirhandbag?I certainly do not!!!!Think-think-think-Idid went to sleep last nightbefore, I remember, that I have plenty of magnets on my refrigerator,so out of bed and down in the kitchen checking the pot and pans with a magnet.

Out offivepotsand twopans, fourpotsandonepan can be usedoninduction:-) I managed to calm down and goback to bed :-)

September 14, 2014

My tomato plants have not been a big success this year, as they have been struggling with potato blight coming from my potato plants. Therefore I will next year be placing my tomatoes in the part of my garden facing, whereas the potatoes will be placed in their pots in the Northern part of my garden.

Any way one of the tomato plants has been full of smaller cherry tomatoes, so I decided to make my own tomato ketchup every using produce from my kitchen garden in form of tomatoes, chilies and apple using this Politiken´s tomato ketchup recipe as starting point.

It was actually the first time for me to make my own tomato ketchup. I decided to adjust the viscosity of this ketchup of adding in some pectin. If you do this, you need to blend eveerything after addition, so you ensure, that the pectin is dispersed homogenous.

Before addition of the dark brown sugar, the colour of the tomato ketcup was quiet light red. After addition of the brown sugar, the colour became much more dark red !!! Interesting colour changes.

Tomato ketchup a la Politiken:

500grams of freshandripe tomatoes

1small apple

1
onion

2 cloves of garlic

1/2teaspooncinnamon

/2teaspoon of ground allspice

125 gdark brown sugar

100 g apple cider vingear

pectin - optional for viscosity adjustments.

Roughly chop all the ingredients.

Put them into a small cooking pot together with vinegar and spices.

Boil everything until the apple pieces are soft.

Blend everything together using a blender.

Taste the tomato ketchup, Adjust to desired by adding the dark brown sugar little by little. Vinegar can also be used for taste adjustment.

Pour the tomato ketchup into jam glasses, which have been prepared by addition of boiling water in advance.

September 12, 2014

Eventhough my good working colleague with a garden full of rhubarb and blackberry has retired, I still get a regular supply of these key ingredients finding it´s way from his garden to my kitchen. So a HUGE BIG thank you to this great ex-colleague :-)

September 11, 2014

After having breakfast in Billund Airport, it was time for me during my long working day to have dinner at Helsinki Airport, before returning to Denmark having a stop over in Sweden !!! In Helsinki Airport I normally always eat at Fly Inn, Helsinki Airport, as the food in interesting and the restaurant is located away from the busy airport area full of passengers, which means I am able to relax more.

This time I decided to fish " chips with Finnish twist in form of fried pike-perch with mashed arctic potatoes and pea puree and finely chopped marinated onions. My only complaint about this main course was the actually size of it, as it was quiet small.

I paided 46 € for this main course, a medium size glass of white wine and ½ l bottle water. I will give this main course four stars for it´s great taste and excellent look, but the overall portion was to small in my opinion.

September 09, 2014

The weekly vegetable box, which I received last week was full of fruit in form of apple, pears and plums, so it has been a challenge for me to eat my way through all this fruit: Therefore I went looking for cake recipe containing pear, which I located among various Arla recipes: pærekage med marcipan. I have made no modifications to this recipe as I wanted to taste the "originale" recipe, before twisting it somewhere else.

September 07, 2014

After long negotiations during spring of 2014, wereached a deal, so Hannibal has become an outdoor cat during nighttime, and when he returns for breakfast and some sleep in the morning, before I go to work. It is tough to negotiate with someone, who bites you in the toes during your sleep, in order to be let outside. Let´s see, if Hannibal will return to the warm duvets as the cold Winter night returns !!!

During warm and dry Summer days Hannibal can also completely forget time, so there can go between 2-3 days, before he returns home. During such time I would like to have a GPS tracker on the garden lion, so I had an idea, where he is staying. You never knows, if the cat has been closed in a house or shed, where the owners have gone on vacation.

So happy birthday to you Hannibal and wish you all the best in the coming year and many mice to be caught and eaten as fresh as possible.

September 06, 2014

MyHTHkitchenand I have now been living together for10 years, before we moved in together, the kitchen has been through severalother relationships during it´s23years. The only two things, which I did, when I moved in, were to paintthe wallsin the kitchenandreplaced the grips fromwhitesquareHTH-gripversion1990withovalsteel handles. With me craftsman capabilities, this is the one and only thing, which I can handle. On the other side I am really good at making jam andbaking cakes.

However, I have now decided to throw myself intoaMEGAprojectin the formof"new
kitchen" !!!which means newkitchenunits,new appliances(stove,
oven,fridge-freezer,dishwasherandrange hood),newtilefloor and newwall tiles.

Fortunately enough I am living inVejle, where the range ofkitchen storesarelarge,verylargeindeed.So far I havevisitedHTH,DesignationandSvane.AndnowI do not want to visit other kitchen stores!!!AtSvane I walked away from the store witha plastic bagcontainingcatalogues witha total weight of2894g!!!Andatthe Designa store I gotthe complete catalogue ofappliancesfromSiemens. So I am not lacking reading stuff before falling a sleep at the moment.

Asa person I am having a holistic overview, so allthese many tiny details are lessinteresting for me as personality, but this is not an option in akitchenstore!!!! What I need is awhite kitchenwithoutgloss, drawersandno cupboardsand a worktop, that Ican cutdirectly on without a chopping board. Isthe type of informationenough for akitchenseller ?NO.Ihave to make up my mind concerning all these other questions:

should the elements be with or without grips/handles ?

should the elements bepaintedor in laminate ?

should the drawersgibletsbeinwoodorplastic?

should the stove be induction?

do I a cooking island?Oh, howthe heckdo I find the room for such a thing !

should it be Swedishcountry kitchenortrendyItalian style?

will you do the dismantling of the kitchen yourself ?NO!!!And Iwill neither put the kitchen on my own or I willend up withallkitchenmodules in one big pile on the floor.

Every time you walk through the door to a kitchen shop you easy spend 1 houranswering allsorts ofquestions.Perhapsitiseasier to buya new houseinstead off ?

The good thing is, that I knowwhich tilesthat Iwant for my kitchen wall :-)I saw somesmaller tilesduringmy summer vacationfrom apotter located inNorth Jutland, who hadmade​​a mosaicinfour different colours,two blueandtwo green. And she is willing to make such tilesto me :-)

I also am considering to use variousceramichandlesinstead ofthe usualmetal handles onthe kitchen units.

And I am under no time pressure at all ? Well, if I would like to use the craftsman tax deductions I have to be finished before 31 December 2014 !!!

So right now I am anxiouslyawaitingthe variousdrawingsand price estimates. And when I will start to hyperventilating!!!

September 05, 2014

This week I had the "pleasure" of full working day spend in Finland = flying out of Billund Airport at 06.20, returning back in Billund Airport at 22.30. Such a full working day also meaning, that you are buying everything, that you eat and drink at the various airports from breakfast to evening meal. Having most of meals in airports can either be a disaster or good experience.

So I start my "eating programme of the day" having breakfast at Gastro in Billund Airport after the security check, having something like 35 minutes, before I needed to board the plan, so I thought, that I time enough to enjoy the breakfast menu. The breakfast menu consisted of salmon from the island of Fanø, Greek yogurt with muesli & maple syrup, organic Gouda cheese from Naturmælk, bread roll, rye bread, butter, strawberry jam and a fresh fruit salad.

To be seated took approx 5 minutes, as the waiter is guiding you to available setting location, when you have to wait to the same waiter to take your order. So when I finally got the tea, juice and breakfast menu I had 12 minutes to stuff all the food and drink into my mouth and stomach !!! Eating under stress is not a pleasure for me (and I assume everyone will feel the same as I do), as I get the feeling, that the food is getting stuck somewhere between the mouth and the stomach !!!

The breakfast menu is looking delicious, it tastes good and is quiet filling. But having to eat and drink everything within 12 minutes, before you have to go, is not a pleasure at all. I did pay upon receiving the food, so I did not have to panic about hold of the waiter, before running off to catch my flight to Copenhagen.

This breakfast menu incl one cup of tea and orange juice costed 146 DKK. And I will this experience 2 stars, not due to low food quality, but due to stress coming from the time pressure !!!! I have no idea if, this time pressure comes from to few waiters or too long time to prepare the breakfast menu, but looking at it, most of this breakfast menu can be prepared in advance, so it could take very little time to serve.